D. R. HOAGLAND 



the biochemical aspects of salt absorption and particularly of the 

 energy-yielding reactions which are inextricably bound up with this 

 process. 



While it is generally accepted now that the accumulation of 

 salt by plant cells is in some way closely linked with metabolism, and 

 particularly with aerobic respiration, the incompleteness of this knowl- 

 edge should be clearly recognized. Even, if the steps in the particular 

 respiratory cycles, and the active enzymes, coenzymes, and activators 

 participating, should be identified to the extent that they sometimes 

 have been in biochemical studies, the mechanisms by which metabolic 

 reactions are coupled to the movement of solutes into the living plant 

 cell, or to its polarized translocation from one tissue to another, would 

 still be obscure. These are questions that have not been answered for 

 any living cells, and the plant organisms may offer an especially favor- 

 able, system for further research on solute movement. 



It is hoped that these remarks may serve to call attention to 

 the abundant opportunities for fundamental biochemical research on 

 higher plants, including the great groups of plants of economic impor- 

 tance. There is a place in this field for more workers of the kind who 

 have done so splendidly in advancing biochemistry, particularly in its 

 relation to animal nutrition, medicine, and the metabolism of micro- 

 organisms. 



References 



(1) Bean, R. S., Ph.D. thesis, University of California, 1943. 



(2) Chibnall, A. C, Protein Metabolism in the Plant. Yale Univ. Press, 

 New Haven, 1939. 



(3) Doudoroff, M., Hassid, W. Z., and Barker, H. A., Science, 100, 315 

 (1944). 



(4) Goddard, D. R., Am. J. Botany, 31, 270 (1944). 



(5) Hanes, C. S., Proc. Roy. Soc. London B128, 1421 (1940); B129, 174 

 (1940). 



(6) Hartt, C. E., Hawaiian Planters' Record, 48, 31 (1944). 



(7) Hassid, W. Z., Doudoroff, M., and Barker, H. A., J. Am. Chem. Soc, 66, 

 1416 (1944). 



(8) Haworth, W. N., Peat, S., and Bourne, E. J., Mature, 154, 236 (1944). 



(9) Hoagland, D. R., Inorganic Nutrition of Plants. Chronica Botanica, 

 Waltham, 1944. 



76 



